March 1737 (3)
= Vossiche Zeitung - March 1737 = Weather this month *Becalmed in the Black Sea. *Heavy rainfall in the East Indies. *Flooding in the Pacific. *Storms in South Europe. Events Of Importte Pertaining To Recent Matters Zurich *In a change from last month’s statement Rittenburg has revealed that the Cantons now have in their possession eight Swiss battalions available for hire as mercenaries since they have now ended service with their current employer. Paris & Versailles *Papal legate Marrissio Barberini. has sent word to King Louis XV at Versailles that Cardinal Frederick Lindberg of the Church Commission of Accountancy has arrived in Paris and is seeking permission to meet His Most Christian Majesty to enable him to the explain what accounting reforms have been implemented within the Gallican Church. King Joseph and Queen Amalia of Spain, Hungary and Croatia warmly thanked King Louis XV of France, his family, ministers and nobles for their hospitality and invited His Majesty and Queen Maria to visit Madrid at their convenience. A banquet was then thrown in their honour by their host, after which they then departed. Ambassador Henri LeFortier has been called in by King Louis and asked if he can confirm that the Americas Republic declared war on the Caddo Indians last month? He also asked him if his country is aware of the fact that the Caddo Indians are allied to France? LeFortier did confirm that war on the Caddo had been declared, but with regard to France’s alliance with the Caddo he imagines the First Consul was not aware of this when the decision was made, although he cannot be certain on this point. Meknes *Moors have distributed alms to the needy of Meknes in the name of Imam Muhammed. London *The royal physician was called to the bed chamber of His Majesty King James III of England, &c., after he was taken ill following an audience with his wife the Queen which was held in the presence of a lady in waiting, Lady Abigail Masham. Queen Mary is known to be tending him at his bedside, and to be in quite a distressed frame of mind. Venice *Cardinal Neloicci, while talking to Antonio Vivaldi dropped heavy hints that His Holiness the Pope desired for him to come under his patronage in Rome to write a new opera, and failure to comply would be seen in a very dim light by the Vatican. Vivaldi, perhaps because he is not a wealthy man, seemed happy to agree and set out for Rome straight away. Stockholm *King Charles and Queen Ursula of Sweden have hosted a banquet to celebrate the birthday of Kronprinz Karl. As guest of honour the young crown prince wore the uniform of the colonel-in-chief of the Kronprinz Livgarde. He appeared extremely confident and sure of himself, looking every person he met straight in the eye without any sign of humility despite his tender age (he is nine year old). Charles presented his son with his first mount, a small pony called Sigurd, along with a complete set of tack and horse furniture suited to an officer of the Livgarde. The King’s equerry Prince Miklos Esterhazy has been charged with teaching Kronprinz Karl how to ride. Later in the month Kronprinz Karl, accompanied by his father and stepmother, inspected the soldiers of the Kronprinz Livgarde under Colonel Erik Larsson in front of the royal palace. The men had a lively air about them, and stood to attention smartly in their 1726-pattern uniforms and riding boots. The Kronprinz himself wore a miniature-tailored version of the uniform of the colonel-in-chief of this regiment. The soldiers, on command, gave out three loud ‘huzzahs’ to His Highness the crown prince! Ghadames *Attempts by some followers of Imam Muhammed to get the people of Ghadames to change their allegiance from the Caliphate to the Imam have been rebuffed, but fortunately with words and not violence! Philadelphia *First Consul of the Americas Republic William Penn has spoken before the National Assembly in Philadelphia: “There has been a bit of concern that the Administration has been unfair in its dealings with the merchant community. I have investigated the issue and have reached this conclusion. The Administration was ordered to pay the merchants in question a bonus if they completed a task in a certain amount of time, which they did to our complete satisfaction. However, someone in the Administration decided to withhold the bonus based on an insignificant technicality. This is clearly not the air of cooperation and honourable conduct we need in the dangerous time ahead of us.” “I am deeply sorry for the actions of the Administration and I have ordered the Treasury to pay up the agreed bonus immediately and indeed pay the same amount from my personal wealth as a compensation to the people involved in this operation. I sincerely hope this is the end of this unfortunate incident.” Rome *His Holiness Pope Benedict XIII has asked to know why he was not invited to the last meeting of the Curia? This raising of the question threw his advisors into some confusion, but their consensus was that he certainly has the right to attend and in future if the Curia is to meet a month’s notice should be given to ensure that His Holiness has advanced warning of its occurrence. Fez *Imam Muhammed led devotions at a small local mosque and then addressed the men. “My brothers, the Islamic Caliphate trumpets that it gave us a million tons of grain and in return we paid for this act of brotherly kindness with our eastern cities. I would gladly pay the Islamic Caliphate two-million tons of grain for their return! Betrayal is betrayal no matter how it is dressed up!” The faithful roared their approval of his words! Many people in Fez who used to be pro- Caliphate are now saying that Prince Yusuf has betrayed them… Some repairs have now begun on the damage caused to Fez during the late war. The Imam has also publicly urged Colonel Farooq and his regiment to guard Morocco and its people because the Imam has placed his life and protection in the hands of Allah and so does not need their armed protection! Vienna *Every court in the known world at which Austria has diplomatic representation has received an invitation to the upcoming royal wedding which is due to be held in July 1737: specifically, the courts which qualify are Tuscany, Transylvania, Spain, United Provinces, Naples, Milan, Savoy, Americas Republic, Prussia, Poland, the Papal States, England, Flanders, Saxony, Wurtemburg, Russia, Lithuania, Brunswick, Serbia, Hanover, Portugal, and Bavaria. Count Stahremberg has formally announced that Her Majesty the Queen has graciously approved the following reductions in taxation to be valid for twelve months – a reduction of 2.5% on the church and 1% each on the nobility and commoners. The new rates will therefore be 2% for nobles, 5% for the Church, and 6% for commoners, reverting back to the old levels by April 1738. The reductions were put to the Bohemian and Austrian diets for approval, and both instances approval was granted once they had been called into session in order to do so. In addition, the government’s programme of improving Austria’s infrastructure continues, with the introduction of road and canal milestones. Algiers *Prince Timur has met a hunchbacked Moorish army officer called Soheil ben Barku and told him, “The Caliphate is saddened by the turn of events in your homeland. We do not blame the good people, it is poor leadership. We now know that the Imam is accepting money from Christian Europe.” Timur showed him a letter from Spain admitting they are funding the Moroccan leader. He then continued, “While we deplore the suffering of the people, and any aid should be welcomed, the Imam is selling the soul of Morocco to the infidel, to nations that invaded Morocco under false pretences and killed its people. What price will they demand for this help? The Imam may try to help the spread of Christianity across North Africa and we must do all we can to prevent it.” Barku shifted uneasily and looked grim. “I know how the infidel think. I have been to Rome. I call tell you they are hypocrites, so I believe what you tell me, but I also know they are very powerful and unscrupulous in wielding such power, so you must tread carefully.” In port the ships of war of the Caliphate’s Islamic Fleet of the Levant have run out their guns and cleared decks for action. This was observed by Admiral Ibrahim El-Khadji whose fleet is loyal to Imam Muhammed and Morocco, and so he ordered his fleet to do the same, during which process a message was received via ship’s boat from the Islamic Fleet requesting he surrender himself to Caliphate forces. If replied that he would not do so, and not only that but if any attempt were made against himself or his fleet the resistance would be brutally violent! The Caliphate fleet has yet to respond, perhaps in part because this month the entire officer contingent of each ship was effectively purged by being replaced! Stuttgart *While conversing with the Russian minister Michail Shafirov the personal equerry of the Duke of Wurtemburg, Captain James D'Arby, revealed that he hails from Virginia but was forced to sell up and leave his family home. D’Arby also said that this was on account of persecution at the hands of American republicans. He said he hopes to return one day, and as he said this he patted the hilt of his sheathed sword as if to indicate he wanted to back at the head of an invading army! Shafirov has noticed how popular D’Arby is at court. He seems to be the archetype dashing adventurer - wealthy, scarred from a sword cut on his right cheek (or so it is said that was the cause), and impudent to his prince at times! People being Much Admired by the Best in Société *Portugal *Russia *Sweden *France *Denmark *United Kingdom *Austria *Tuscany *Poland *Spain Shipping Lists: Being a Reporte on Knowne Shipping Movements *The Escadre de Mediterranée, with the Armée des Alpes now fully embarked, has set sail from Venice. Lloyds Lists: Being a Reporte on Knowne Shipping Losses from Causes Unknowne or Knowne *None. Ambassadorial Appointments *None. Trade Missions Opened *None. Automatically parsed by LGDRParser v1.0 Category:Game 3